Playwright John Patrick Shanley transformed the text of his 2005 play Doubt into the libretto of a new opera. He says he appreciates the medium's musical and moral complexities.

Michal Daniel
/ Minnesota Opera

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Originally published on January 25, 2013 6:25 pm

As a play, Doubt won a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. As a movie, it secured Oscar nominations for Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. This weekend, Doubt gets its world premiere as an opera — which, according to the work's original playwright, provides the story's fullest telling.

As the opera opens, Father Flynn leads his congregation in mass and asks a question that will come back to haunt him. "What do you do, when you are not sure?" Flynn, sung by baritone Matthew Worth, asks.

The question provides the basis of his sermon, but it becomes the theme of Doubt's story, as suspicions arise about his relationship with one of the church's altar boys.

Playwright John Patrick Shanley says he was dubious when composer Douglas Cuomo first suggested he adapt this unsettling story for opera.

"Being a mook from the Bronx, my initial attitude to opera was like Bugs Bunny's, which was, 'Why are those people singing that way?' " Shanley says.

But today, Shanley — who wrote the screenplay for the movie based on his original play, and now the libretto for the opera — says he sees things differently.

"With opera, I have a new set of materials available to me in addition to the ones I have employed so far," he says. "So I took the materials of film and of stage and of music, and can tell an ever more three-dimensional story — and that's a fun and compelling challenge."

Playing With Tonality

Shanley's collaborators credit the musicality of his writing style for making it such a natural fit for opera. Still, composer Cuomo says it was a challenge to devise a score that properly produces a sense of unease while asking the question: Is Father Flynn innocent or guilty? Cuomo creates that extra edge by playing with tonality.

"Sometimes, it's just a matter of adding just even one note to unsettle some more traditional-sounding major chord," Cuomo says. "You get a sense of familiarity, because here's a nice C major chord, but there's also this other note that doesn't belong in there. You have these two things happening at once that together add up to something that's slightly unsettling, or off-kilter."

The overall result is what Shanley calls a "Hitchcockian" score.

"That takes the best of the two previous mediums and adds to it this whole crayon box of audio color," Shanley says, "and it becomes something, a third thing, and maybe the most beautiful thing."

Not Without A Doubt

That combination of music, words and story has sparked its share of doubt in the Minnesota Opera's cast. Soprano Christine Brewer sings the role of Sister Aloysius, the school principal who becomes Father Flynn's accuser. Brewer is a former teacher herself and says she has seen the play a couple of times. The first time, she came away feeling that Father Flynn was guilty.

"And the next time I thought, 'Wow, maybe not,' " Brewer says. "And certainly to play this role, I have to believe he's guilty."

Another key role is that of Mrs. Miller, the mother of the boy at the center of the firestorm of suspicion, played by mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. Coming out of a recent rehearsal, Graves says that on that particular day she believed the priest might be guilty. But as an actor, she has to convey her character's internal debate between trying to discover what might have happened to her son and the desire to simply get him through the school year and on to better things.

"I think the fact that also she is an African-American is an important layer in this story," Graves says. "She is dealing with a lot here, and trying to hold everyone together — herself included."

Shanley says that even he doesn't know if Father Flynn is guilty, and that the operatic form allows the story's shades of gray to come through.

"Two people in a scene can be in complete disagreement, but in musical terms they are very much in agreement," Shanley says. "And that's a fascinating, different kind of a subtext to me. It's sort of like, 'We may on the face of it differ on many things, but we very much inhabit the same world with the laws of the universe.' "

All doubts aside, Shanley says he now wants to collaborate on more operas, including an operatic adaptation of one of his early screenplays: Moonstruck.

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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block. The play "Doubt," about a priest suspected of sexually abusing a child, won a Pulitzer and a Tony. As a movie, four of its actors earned Oscar nominations. Well, this weekend, "Doubt" gets its world premiere as an opera. Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr reports, the creator of all three says this just might be his story's fullest telling.

EUAN KERR, BYLINE: As the opera opens, Father Flynn leads his congregation in mass and in asking a question which will come back to haunt him.

(SOUNDBITE FROM OPERA "DOUBT")

KERR: The question is the basis of his sermon, but it becomes the theme of the story, as suspicions arise about his relationship with one of the altar boys. John Patrick Shanley admits he was dubious when composer Douglas Cuomo first suggested he adapt this unsettling story for opera.

JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY: Being a mook from the Bronx, my initial attitude towards opera was like Bugs Bunny's, why are those people singing that way?

KERR: But today, Shanley, who wrote the screenplay for the movie based on his original play, and now the libretto for the opera, sees things differently.

SHANLEY: With opera, I have a new set of materials available to me in addition to the ones that I've employed so far. And so I took the materials of film and of stage and of music, and can tell an ever more three-dimensional story and that's a fun and compelling challenge.

KERR: Shanley's collaborators credit the musicality of his writing style for making it such a natural fit for opera. Composer Douglas Cuomo says he still had the challenge of coming up with a score which produces a sense of unease, of doubt. Is Father Flynn innocent or guilty? Cuomo creates an extra edge by playing with tonality.

DOUGLAS CUOMO: Sometimes, it's just a matter of adding just even one note to kind of unsettle some more sort of traditional-sounding major chord. You add a note that's not in the chord. And so you get a sense of familiarity, because here's a nice, you know, C major chord, but there's also this other note that doesn't belong in there. And so you have these two things happening at once that together add up to something that's slightly unsettling and slightly off-kilter.

(SOUNDBITE FROM OPERA "DOUBT")

KERR: The overall result is what John Patrick Shanley calls a "Hitchcockian" score.

SHANLEY: That takes the best of the two previous mediums and adds to it this whole crayon box of audio color and it becomes something, a third thing, and maybe the most beautiful thing.

(SOUNDBITE FROM OPERA "DOUBT")

KERR: The combination of music, words and story has sparked some doubt in the Minnesota Opera's cast. Soprano Christine Brewer sings the role of Sister Aloysius, the school principal who becomes Father Flynn's accuser. Brewer is a former teacher herself and says she's seen the play a couple of times. The first time, she came away feeling he was guilty.

CHRISTINE BREWER: And the next time I thought, wow, maybe not, you know. And certainly to play this role, I have to believe he's guilty.

(SOUNDBITE FROM OPERA "DOUBT")

KERR: Another key role is Mrs. Miller, the mother of the boy at the center of the firestorm of suspicion. Mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves plays that role. Coming out of a rehearsal, Graves said on that particular day she believed the priest might be guilty. But as an actor, she has to convey how her character is torn between what may have happened to her son and the need to get him through the school year and on to better things.

DENYCE GRAVES: I think the fact that also she is an African-American is an important layer in this story. She's dealing with a lot here and trying to hold everybody together, and herself included.

KERR: When asked directly, John Patrick Shanley says he doesn't know whether Father Flynn is guilty, but he does know that the operatic form allows the shades of gray in the story to come through.

SHANLEY: Two people in the scene can be at complete disagreement, but on musical terms they are very much in agreement. And that's a fascinating, different kind of a subtext for me. It's sort of like, in other words, we may on the face of it differ on many things, but we very much inhabit the same world with the same laws of the universe.

KERR: John Patrick Shanley says he wants to do more opera, including an operatic adaptation of one of his early screenplays, "Moonstruck." For NPR News, I'm Euan Kerr in St. Paul. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.